Beyond Santa: The Sinister Side of Yuletide Legends

The Whole Rabbit

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In this week’s episode we explore the dark side of Christmas folklore, delving into mythological figures like Krampus, Frau Perchta (the belly-slitting hag), and the musically inclined specters, the Night Folk. In the free show we uncover the pickled children of ol’ St. Nicholas and the danger of accepting coal from salacious wood nymphs with fox tails. In the extended show we go further down the rabbit hole to discuss the one-eyed dog Turst (not to be confused with Fred Durst), the kid bonking Belsnickle, the nasty Necht Ruprecht and the fearsome denizens of the Wild Hunt led by Odin’s eight legged reindeer Sleipnir. Thank you and enjoy the show!

In this week’s episode we discuss:

• St. Nicholas and the legend of the butchered children.
• Krampus: origins and traditions (Krampusnacht and Krampuslauf)
• Frau Perchta: origins and depictions ("Belly Slitter").
• The Night Folk: descriptions, music, dangers, and avoidance strategies.
• Turst: description (pig/dog hybrid), association with storms and goblins, and the Wetterkreuze.
• Straggele: origins (Italian "strega"), description (witch/owl hybrid), association with Ember Night and the punishment of misbehaving children.

In the extended show available at www.patreon.com/TheWholeRabbit we go much further down the chimney to discuss:

• Belsnickel: punisher of naughty children
  Knecht Ruprecht
• Rauhnacht: description (12-day period between Christmas and Epiphany), associated traditions (pageants, treat-seeking, avoiding laundry), and historical suppression by the Nazis.
• The Wild Hunt across different cultures (Scandinavia, Germanic, France, Wales, England, American West).
• The original Nutcracker story
• Hans Trapp: historical origins (Hans Von Trotha), transformation into a monstrous scarecrow.

Each host is responsible for writing and creating the content they present. Most sections of this episode were prepared by Tim Hacker of the Cryptic Chronicles Podcast available at CrypticChronicles.com In the notes: red sections are written by Luke Madrid, green sections by Malachor 5, purple written by Heka Astra and blue by Mari Sama.

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Music By Spirit Travel Plaza:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/30dW3WB1sYofnow7y3V0Yo

SOURCES:
Scary Book of Christmas Lore: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123266631-the-scary-book-of-christmas-lore?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=A9X9DxigGD&rank=1

Yule

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